Agbar Tower (99)

This high-rise building in the Plaça de les Glòries was designed by the French architect, Jean Nouvel, in collaboration with the Barcelona firm of architects, b720. Standing 144 metres high, it has 44 floors plus four more underground. When it opened in June 2005, it was the third highest building in the city, after the Arts Hotel and the Mapfre Tower, both located in the Olympic Port.

The building consists of two oval cylinders that are not concentric, plus a glass and steel dome on top. It is known for its two skins. The first covers the concrete wall and is an aluminium varnished plate in blue and greenish terracotta hues. And the second skin has almost 60,000 transparent and translucid glass pieces, which make the building change colour subtly, depending how the light strikes it. In addition, it has temperature sensors that regulate the opening and closing of the blinds on the outside to reduce the consumption of energy used to air-condition the offices.

But the most special feature of the building is its night-time illumination, as it possesses over 4,500 lights that generate shining images on its outside, giving it a different look each day. Or, better said, each night.

The tower is not only visible close up, but can be seen from all over the city. It is especially beautiful from the Avinguda Diagonal, Carrer Casp or the Avinguda Meridiana.